


Our Constellation

by Lady_Therion



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 12:36:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16913019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Therion/pseuds/Lady_Therion
Summary: Someone's up past their bedtime.





	Our Constellation

**Author's Note:**

> Post-ACOFAS.

Cassian heard the children first.

Beside him, Nesta stirred. So he stilled her with a kiss. It was a chaste kiss compared to the others he’d given to her tonight, while they made love as sweet as summer. But she moaned against him anyway. A low, quiet, and aching sound that never failed to quicken his pulse.

But first, the children. Their children.

“Stay this time,” he said, kissing once her more on her forehead, then again alongside her neck where his claiming marks were. “I’ll be right back.”

She grumbled a sleepy reply that roughly translated as _you’d better_. Then stole the rest of his blankets to cover her naked body. He was still grinning by the time he dressed and padded down the hallway.

He’d built a new wing on the other side of their house when the twins arrived, a boy and a girl, and it’s their room he checked first. Nesta had put them to bed long before he came home, but a sliver of light and the soft din of their voices told him they were still wide awake.

“Papa!”

Gilliam and Lilith were the youngest of their brood and were barely taller than his knees. Even so, it didn’t stop Nesta from tutting that they were growing too fast for her liking. The little devils had their mother’s golden-brown curls, but their bright hazel eyes and _up to no good_ expressions were all undisputedly his.

“You two should be dreaming,” he said.

They squealed as he gathered one in each arm, growling like a bear as he spun them about and tossed them into their bed with a great _thwump_.

“Again! Again!”

“Do you yield?” he asked.

“Never!” It was the answer he expected. So he gripped their feet and tickled them instead.

“Do you _yield_?”

They resisted for as long as they could, wriggling like two pups until they fell over in an exhausted heap.

“We yield!” they cried. “For now.”

 _For now_ , thought Cassian. _Unbelievable_.

“And why are you two villains still up?” he said, in his best attempt at fatherly seriousness.

“Because Hadrian is,” Gilliam reasoned.

“And Darius and Thea,” added Lilith.

Ah. So his _other_ children were part of the conspiracy.

“I’ll be telling them to go to bed soon enough,” said Cassian. “You two should be setting a better example.” He tucked them in tight, his heart swelling as they fussed and fidgeted, but nonetheless heeded him. His older ones would hardly do so now. “Goodnight. Stay in bed. Or it will be Mama looking in on you next time.”

They nodded and yawned. “Night, Papa.”

* * *

 

“Late night reading?”

His eldest son Hadrian arched a brow that would have done his mother proud. In fact, had it not been for his tan skin and tucked in wings, Cassian would have bet good money that Nesta simply replicated herself in a male form.

Hadrian had more of his mother in him than the rest of their children combined, from his blue-grey eyes that could cut or pierce as well as any blade to a calculating demeanor that could burn as cold as the frost palaces in Winter. He was also lovely, near painfully so, like a true warrior prince. At least that’s what Cassian had been hearing among the ruling clans already considering offers of marriage. The more traditional families would be hard-pressed, however, since both Cassian and Nesta knew Hadrian preferred males. In any case, his eldest was devastating and it might have worried Cassian more had Hadrian not inherited his mother’s softer traits as well.

Her of love of romances, for instance.

“I’m almost done,” said Hadrian. There was a note of petulance in his voice that still hinted at his youth, though he was only a few years short of participating in the Rite. “I’ve been waiting for Mama to finish this one for weeks.”

Cassian looked to the other stack of books next to Hadrian’s bedside table: strategy, engineering, political science, field medicine. These were the more advanced subjects the more seasoned warriors were learning, yet the worn pages and thoroughly bookmarked chapters indicated that his eldest had already read them twice or thrice.

 _Just you wait_ , Nesta had said. _This one will be running legions in no time._

Cassian had laughed. _The Illyrian legions?_

 _No, my love_. said Nesta. _The world’s._

“Your book will still be there in the morning,” said Cassian. “Which given the hour, is only a blink or two away.” He had learned over the years that his son could only be cajoled through hard facts and logic. That would be useful to him on the battlefield and the war room. But Cassian often wondered whether that would hinder his son on more personal matters. Those of the heart, for instance.

For now, Hadrian weighed his father’s words and found them not wanting. So he closed his book and set it aside, brushing his golden-brown curls from his brow. Like his youngest son Gilliam, Hadrian had trouble keeping his hair from falling over his face, but found it tedious to cut since it would grow back as quick as a weed. So they followed their father’s example, and kept theirs knotted with a leather strap. Sometimes, they would ask their mother or sisters to braid it for them.

“Darius is in Thea’s room,” said Hadrian finally. “I think something happened today.”

“Oh?” Cassian’s hackles rose. Thea had begun her training as a novice earlier that spring, but had never once complained. If anyone was giving her trouble…

“It’s nothing like that,” Hadrian hastily amended. “It’s just...She wants to fly, Papa.”

A heavy weight settled in his chest. _This again._

He sighed. “I’ll talk to her. Go to bed, now. Or your mother will make sure to make you wait even longer for the next book.”

Hadrian rolled his eyes, but allowed his father a rare smile. “Fine, fine. Goodnight, Papa.”

* * *

 

Cassian stood outside the threshold of his daughter’s room, listening to the murmurs within.

“You can’t keep letting this get to you.”

This was Darius, their second eldest son and Cassian’s double in every way, save for his eyes. He had his mother’s eyes. Everything else, however, was purely his father a hundredfold. In all his lifetime, Cassian had never met a youngling as compassionate as Darius. He fought and flew as ardently as any Illyrian who heard the song of the wind or answered the call of war. But Darius did so with awareness and restraint. He understood better than his peers, or his people even, that power was a burden and responsibility not to be taken lightly. As a result, he was even-tempered and gentle-handed.

He was also the closest out of all his siblings to Thea—Althea, named so after Cassian’s mother.

“It’s just so unfair, Darius.” A pause in which he heard her sniffle. “Gods-damn it all.”

Cassian knocked before entering. The two of them were sitting side by side on the edge of Thea’s bed, with Darius’ wing draped over her.

Thea stared at him, eyes red, before turning away in shame. If Hadrian was Nesta in male form, then Thea was Cassian in female form. But whatever physical traits she may have taken from him, she was also her mother’s through and through. Especially when it came to anger. Like Nesta, her feelings sliced at her deeply. Too deeply. As it was, Cassian would need to proceed with caution. Any hint of pity from him, the General Commander, would make Thea’s walls that much more impenetrable.

Thea could accept sympathy from her brother. Much like Nesta could accept sympathy from Elain. But it was an altogether different matter when it came to her parents, whom Thea wanted to emulate so badly. Though she would never tell them with words.

“Why don’t you head back to your room, Darius?” said Cassian. “I’ll take over from here.”

Darius hesitated then nodded, giving his sister another reassuring pat on her shoulder before leaving. The worried expression on his son’s face spoke volumes. Thea was more than simply distraught.

The weight of the bed dipped underneath him as Cassian cleared his throat. “Hadrian told me something happened today.”

“Hadrian’s a busybody.”

Cassian smirked. “Maybe so. Or maybe he’s concerned for his sister, as elder brothers should be.” He turned to her. “I heard that this was about flying.”

Unlike her elder brothers, Thea had been born without wings. It was an injustice she never stopped railing against, despite his and Nesta’s protests that she was no less a warrior, nor no less an Illyrian, for not having them. Though Cassian could understand better than his mate how annihilating it could feel to want to sail upon the wind and yet be unable to do so. Thea was fighting against instinct, fighting against nature. And more often than not, she would be defeated.

But Cassian saw to it that she would get back up each time.

“The captain goes harder on me because I can’t fly,” was all Thea said, her hands curling into fists. “The prick.”

“It’s practical,” said Cassian. “Wings can be just as vulnerable as any other limb and can be shredded just as easily in battle.” He knew this from experience. “That’s why they’re bound during the Rite. For you to be conditioned otherwise is an advantage. Don’t let the others tell you differently.”

“I know that Papa,” said Thea. “I know it, but still.” Tears threatened to spill and it was all he could do to not embrace her, like he did when she was little. But he knew if he did, she would only push him away and tell him she was too old for such things.  
  
“The twins have no wings,” he went on.

She snorted. “The twins are babies.”

“Your mother has no wings either.”

Thea bit her lips. “But Mama is...Mama’s different.” A note of awe entered her voice and admiration too. It was no wonder. Nesta had inspired many a female warrior ever since she had staked her claim in Illyria all those years ago. “Mama could be the victor no matter who her opponent was. Even Death.”

Cassian’s smile was wry. “You are more like your mother than you think.”

The doubt in his daughter’s eyes made his heart clench. “Your mother may not be able to fly,” he continued. “But she learned that there was more to strength than the weapons one wields.” And that’s a lesson his daughter would have to learn as well. Sooner, rather than later.

Thea shuffled, her anger ebbing as she gave it more thought. _That was a good sign._ “I heard that Mama was the only one in her division who could wield an Illyrian bow. Not even some of the war chiefs can do that.”

Pride made him glow at the memory. “That’s true. But mind you: her ability to wield one wasn’t because she was the strongest or the fastest.”

“No?”

“No,” said Cassian. “It was because she wanted it the most and found a way to do so. She will tell you herself tomorrow...when she gives you your first lesson.”

“Really, Papa?” Thea brightened. “Do you mean it?”

He kissed the top of her head and ruffled her night-dark hair. To his delight, she didn’t squirm as much as he expected her to “I do. On the condition that you sleep right this instant. Your mother will expect you to be sharp; sharper than you’ve ever been. And so do I.”

He had never seen his daughter fall asleep so quickly. One blink later and she was already under the covers. “I won’t let either of you down, Papa.”

“You never could,” he said, before turning out the fae light and shutting the door behind him.

* * *

 

“Everything all right?”

Cassian curled himself around his mate, her lovely backside against him. He murmured an assent before tracing the bare skin of her back. She had a tattoo along her spine of a constellation. _Our constellation,_ she had told him. A star for her, a star for him, and a star for each of their children on the day they were born. Cassian loved to look at it, to watch it grow as they added more joy to their family. Having grown up with nothing, it was inconceivable that he would have what they did now.

“All is well,” he assured her, this time combing back her tresses from her throat. She was ready for him again, and the gods knew he was always ready for her. “Thea will be asking you for archery lessons tomorrow.”

“Mmm,” she said, as he nipped the shell of her ear. “I’ve been waiting for her to come around.”

He rolled her beneath him until their kisses devolved into something more primal, more urgent. _More, more, more_. Skin met skin as they panted and thrust into one another, their bond singing at their blissful union. _This_ , thought Cassian, _this is where he wanted to be forever_. Home, with his mate, with their children, at peace. He looked into her eyes as he came and the love there was so deeply indescribable that he almost wept at the sight.

“There’s no need to be so somber,” she murmured, as they came down from their peak.

“I’m not,” said Cassian, nuzzling into her skin. “I’m just...overwhelmed.”

“Mmm,” she said again. “Flattery always gets you everywhere.”

His answering smile was as tender as the dawn, and he held his mate close until morning.

**Author's Note:**

> You also can find me on tumblr as lady-therion.
> 
> And in case you’re curious about the pronunciation: 
> 
> Gilliam - Gill-ee-um  
> Lilith - Lil-ith  
> Hadrian - Hay-dree-un  
> Darius - Dare-ee-us  
> Althea - All-thee-ah


End file.
